City's politicians no strangers to lower property taxes

Correction 4/05/2004: In Sunday's article on Orleans Parish tax assessments, the subdivision including properties on Crystal Street was incorrectly identified. The properties are in the Lakeshore East subdivision.

Logic might dictate that the politicians who spend the money generated by New Orleans property taxes would be among those pushing the city's seven assessors to be more aggressive in keeping appraisals in stride with rising property values.

But rarely is a peep about lax valuation practices heard from members of the School Board or City Council, even though those agencies are the biggest consumers of property tax revenue.

Indeed, the School Board might have taken its historical disinterest in property taxes to a new level last fall when it forgot to approve a tax rate in time for 2004, delaying mailing of bills by months and requiring a bond sale to make up for a temporary shortfall of as much as $100 million.

The simplest explanation for the political lethargy is that no elected official is eager to rile constituents by raising their taxes. The other side of the coin might be that the politicians themselves enjoy the fruits of undervaluation too much to complain about it.

Although there's no evidence that politicians have sought special treatment, a review commissioned by The Times-Picayune suggests they're getting it anyway. While the average New Orleanian's home was worth 70 percent more than the appraisal reflected on the 2003 tax rolls, the average politician's home was worth almost twice its appraised value last year.

The disparity shrank a little with the quadrennial reassessment completed last year and reflected on the 2004 tax roll. The politicians' homes are now worth, on average, 75 percent more than the value reflected on the tax rolls, the review found. Put another way, the average property owned by a local politician is now valued by assessors at $108,483 but worth $190,460.

Lower taxes for top dogs

Interestingly, the survey's most undervalued home -- expressed in dollars as opposed to percentages -- belongs to a politician who has not hesitated to condemn the city's erratic appraisal practices: Mayor Ray Nagin.

Nagin's Park Island home is valued on the tax rolls at $355,100, $10,100 more than he paid for it in 1998. The brokers who conducted The Times-Picayune's survey think the house could now fetch $692,500, nearly double the sales price. Were Nagin's house revalued for that amount, his annual tax bill would rise from $4,876 to $10,656. Nagin spokesman Chris Bonura said that the mayor "has called for fair and equitable assessments across the board. That should apply to everyone." Nagin isn't the only mayor whose house has been undervalued. The Mid-City home of former Mayor Marc Morial, who moved to New York last year to head the National Urban League, has not been substantially revalued since Morial bought it in 1993, even though Morial tacked on an 1,800-square-foot addition several years ago.

In December 1999, homeowners across the city received tax bills reflecting the latest quadrennial reassessment. A story published at the time noted that 2nd District Assessor Claude Mauberret had not revalued Morial's Bienville Street home, which was still on the tax roll at $157,000, the price the mayor paid for it.

A Mauberret spokeswoman said at the time that the house would be reassessed upon completion of the renovations, which were almost finished. A building permit estimated the addition's cost at $120,000. Morial said he was "ready and willing" to pay higher taxes.

But the reassessment never occurred. This year, Mauberret nudged the value of the home up to $162,500. Morial, who still enjoys a homestead exemption, was billed for $1,577 in property taxes this year.

Mauberret aide John Sens said that the assessor was never notified by the city's Department of Safety and Permits about the renovation. Sens said he plans to research the issue.

Morial noted that his real estate taxes are paid by his mortgage company. "We have never contested nor lobbied the assessor or his office regarding our assessment," he said in an e-mail.

Morial added that he and his wife are entitled to claim the exemption because, "for the foreseeable future, we continue as domicilliaries of 4210 Bienville."

Former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy also appears to have caught a break.

Barthelemy's Franklin Avenue home is valued at $160,000 by 3rd District Assessor Erroll Williams even though Barthelemy paid $202,500 for it in 1986, the year he became mayor. Barthelemy was surprised to hear his house was undervalued.

"I never talked to my assessor about it," he said. "I thought he assessed it for basically what I paid for it."

Former Mayor Moon Landrieu, the city's only other ex-mayor still living, bought his Broadmoor house in 1960 for $20,000. Its valuation today is $243,600.

Expressed as a percentage of the home's value, the biggest break received by any politician covered by the review is going to School Board member Jimmy Fahrenholtz, whose home along oak-lined Ursulines Avenue in Mid-City is valued on city tax rolls at $81,400, slightly more than its 1995 sales price. The brokers put the worth of the home -- which is in the name of Fahrenholtz's wife -- at $257,500, more than triple the appraisal on the tax rolls. Fahrenholtz didn't disagree with the brokers' opinion.

Taxwise, Fahrenholtz's break is even bigger. He now pays $188 a year. He'd be paying 17 times that if his house were accurately appraised.

Fahrenholtz said he's never even met his assessor, Mauberret. In fact, he didn't even know which assessor's district he lived in.

He also said he's improved the property dramatically. "It was a crackhouse when we bought it," he said.

City Councilman Jay Batt's home in Lakewood South took the biggest hit in the latest reassessment. Until this year, his house had been valued at $210,700, about $50,000 less than he paid for it in 1998. It's now on the books at $260,700. The brokers put the home's value at $382,500.

Had Batt's home been listed on the tax rolls at the purchase price, Batt would have paid about $5,000 more in taxes during the past six years.

Batt, who was not on the council when he bought his house, said he didn't pull any strings to get the assessment lowered. In fact, he said, he wasn't even aware his tax appraisal was less than his sales price.

"I get a bill, and I pay it," he said. "I've never ever gone to see my assessor. In fact, before I was elected, I had never met (7th District Assessor) Henry Heaton."

Bumped up a bit

Other politicians' assessments remain low because they have lived in the same homes for a long time and because assessors have failed to keep valuations in step with the rapid price appreciation of the past decade.

The Gentilly home of City Councilman Marlin Gusman, for instance, went on the rolls at $83,000 when he bought it for that price in 1988, and its valuation didn't budge until this year, when it was bumped up to $110,000. The brokers' estimates put its value at $215,000.

City Councilman Oliver Thomas and School Board member Carolyn Green Ford also saw their assessments jump substantially this year after a long period of stagnation.

Some politicians aren't getting such a great deal.

Among them: City Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt, whose Toledano Street house is on the tax rolls at 86 percent of its market value.